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THE 


SILK  INDUSTRY 

.•* 

%  *  " 

OF 

THE  UNITED  STATES 

/ 

Fbom  1766  to  1874. 


By  A.  T.  LILLY. 


/ 


THE 


SILK  INDUSTRY 

OF 

THE  UNITED  STATES 

From  1766  to  1874. 


By  A.  T.  LILLY. 


NEW  YORK  : 

Jenkins  &  Thomas,  Printers,  8  Spruce  Street. 

1882. 


e 


THE  GETTY  RESEARCH 
INSTITUTE  LIBRARY 


THE  SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
FROM  1766  TO  1874. 

By  A.  T.  LILLY. 

As  the  following  sketch  is  largely  composed  of  personal  rem¬ 
iniscences,  no  reference  will  be  made  to  early  efforts  at  silk  culture 
and  manufacture  in  Georgia,  and  elsewhere  at  the  South,  during 
colonial  times,  which  have  been  already  recorded  in  history.  No 
attempt  will  be  made  to  describe  the  praiseworthy  labors  at  Phil¬ 
adelphia  of  Mr.  Hoeckly  in  1793,  and  Mr.  William  H.  Horstmann 
in  1815.  The  present  retrospect  will  be  confined  to  the  origin  and 
growth  of  the  silk  industry  in  a  locality  with  which  the  writer  was 
thoroughly  acquainted.  A  peculiar  interest  gathers  around  the 
early  struggles  of  a  manufacturing  art  which  has  since  been  estab¬ 
lished  at  numerous  sites  far  from  its  obscure  birthplace,  and  has 
now  become  of  national  importance. 

An  extract  from  Barber’s  “  History  of  Connecticut  ”  (published 
in  1836)  may  fitly  serve  to  introduce  further  details.  Under  the 
head  of  “  Mansfield  ”  is  the  following  : — 

A  larger  quantity  of  silk  is  manufactured  here  than  at  any  other  place  in 
the  United  States.  This  branch  of  industry  was  introduced  into  this  country 
by  Dr.  Aspinwall,  of  this  place,  about  1766,  who  established  the  raising  of 
silk-worms  in  New  Haven,  Long  Island,  and  Philadelphia.  At  this  period 
(1766)  half  an  ounce  of  mulberry  seed  was  sent  to  every  parish  in  Connecti¬ 
cut,  and  the  legislature  for  a  time  offered  a  bounty  on  mulberry-trees  and 
raw  silk.  Two  hundred  and  sixty-five  lbs.  were  raised  in  1793,  and  the 
quantity  has  been  increasing  ever  since.  In  1830,  3,200  lbs.  were  raised. 
Two  small  silk  factories  have  been  established  in  this  town  by  an  English 
manufacturer.  The  double  wheel-head  was  invented  by  Mr.  Horace  Hanks, 
about  the  year  1800,  for  the  purpose  of  spinning  silk.  It  was  first  used  in 
the  family  of  Mr.  Wright.  The  first  silk  reeled  from  cocoons  was  the  work 
of  the  wife  of  the  Kev.  Mr.  Martin,  who  had  been  in  France,  and  had  seen 
the  operation  in  that  country. 

The  growth  of  silk  culture  in  Mansfield,  as  indicated  above, 
steadily  rising  from  265  lbs.  in  1793  to  3,200  lbs.  in  a  period  of 
thirty-seven  years,  was  continuous  until  1843-44,  when  a  blight  of 
the  mulberry-trees  and  other  concurrent  misfortunes  led  to  an 
abandonment  of  the  business  of  raising  silk,  not  only  in  that  local- 


2 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ity,  but  throughout  the  country.  The  growth  of  the  trees  proba¬ 
bly  dates  from  1766,  when  there  was  a  general  distribution  of 
mulberry  seed  throughout  the  State  of  Connecticut.  Mansfield 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  the  only  locality  where  raising  silk 
became  a  fixed  industry.  This  must  be  attributed  rather  to  the 
interest  taken  in  the  matter  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  than  to 
any  peculiar  advantage  of  soil  or  climate.  Until  the  blight  of  1844 
killed  the  mulberry-trees,  they  were  growing  throughout  the  town¬ 
ship.  Here  and  there  portions  of  land,  quaintly  termed  “  mulberry 
orchards,”  were  entirely  devoted  to  them,  and  they  stood  in  rows, 
being  planted  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  apart.  Elsewhere,  and  not 
unfrequently,  they  shaded  the  sides  of  the  roads  leading  to  the 
farm-houses,  they  adorned  highways  and  by-ways,  and  fringed  the 
edges  of  the  cultivated  fields.  The  mulberry-tree  interfered  little, 
if  at  all,  with  the  use  of  the  land  for  other  purposes,  while  it  fur¬ 
nished  the  means  of  a  considerable  income  to  its  owner.  The  silk 
obtained  by  a  single  family  sometimes  amounted  to  130  lbs.  in  a 
season.  The  labor  required  was  light,  as  the  processes  were  sim¬ 
ple  and  invariably  successful,  and  women  and  children  performed 
all  the  work,  except  during  the  sixth  or  last  week  of  the  life  of  the 
worms,  when  the  men  usually  gave  assistance.  Sometimes  the 
owner  of  trees  let  them  on  shares  for  the  season  ;  sometimes  he 
sold  their  leaves  at  a  given  price  per  pound,  to  be  picked  by  the 
purchaser.  This  constant  source  of  income  to  the  owner  of  mul¬ 
berry-trees  was  for  fifty  years  a  demonstrated  fact.  There  is  no 
reason  why  it  should  not  again  be  possible,  and  not  in  a  restricted 
locality,  but  throughout  the  breadth  of  our  country.  The  deficien¬ 
cy  is  not  of  climate  or  soil,  but  of  willing  hands.  Not  only  the 
care  of  the  silk- worms,  but  the  manufacture  of  silk,  and  in  most 
cases  its  sale,  were  part  of  the  business  of  the  matron  of  the  house. 
The  silk  was  reeled  irom  the  cocoons  by  a  process  of  the  most 
primitive  description;  and  so  crude  was  the  product  thus  obtained 
that  it  could  only  be  spun  by  hand.  It  may  well  be  doubted 
w'hether  silk  so  reeled  could  be  used  by  a  manufacturer,  if  aided 
by  all  the  ingenious  machinery  of  the  present  day.  The  hand- 
wheel,  on  which  previous  to  the  year  1800  all  spinning  was  per¬ 
formed,  was  exceedingly  simple.  A  band  carried  the  motion  di¬ 
rectly  from  a  large  wheel  turned  by  the  operator  to  the  “  whur  ” 
on  the  spindle  ;  and  many  revolutions  of  the  wheel  were  required 
to  give  the  needful  twist.  In  the  year  1800  Horace  Hanks  invent- 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


3 


ed  the  double  wheel-head.  In  this  device  the  band  passed  from 
the  large  wheel  to  a  counter-shaft,  and  thence  to  the  spindle 
“  whur,”  giving  an  increased  speed  of  145  turns  to  one  as  com¬ 
pared  with  the  old  wheel-head.  The  new  invention,  under  Hanks’s 
patent,  was  hailed  by  the  matrons  of  that  day  with  enthusiasm  as 
a  labor-saving  contrivance,  and  found  due  appreciation  in  spinning- 
silk,  wool,  and  cotton. 

American  sewing-silk  was  at  that  time  sold  by  the  skein  instead 
of  by  weight.  For  convenience  twenty-five  skeins  were  tied  in 
a  bunch,  and  four  bunches  were  fastened  together,  thus  giving  a 
merchantable  package  of  one  hundred  skeins, — a  unit  of  trade  on 
which  the  price  was  based.  Uniformity  in  length  of  thread  was 
secured  by  act  of  the  legislature,  which  declared  that  there  should 
be  forty  yards  in  a  skein.  The  act  was  enforced  with  the  follow¬ 
ing  penalty  : — 

Any  person  or  persons  who  shall  sell  or  offer  for  sale  any  sewing-silk, 
unless  each  skein  consists  of  twenty  threads,  each  thread  of  the  length  of 
two  yards,  shall  forfeit  the  sum  of  seven  dollars  to  any  person  who  shall 
prosecute  the  same  to  effect. 

Yankee  ingenuity  soon  discovered  a  method  of  evading  the 
statute.  Only  twenty  yards  being  put  in  each  skein,  the  seller 
was  careful  to  speak  of  them  as  lialf-skeins  ;  but,  as  they  passed 
from  hand  to  hand,  perhaps  some  vender  neglected  this  precau¬ 
tion,  or  perhaps  the  “  half-skein”  was  too  faintly  spoken  to  be 
heard.  As  the  fine  went  to  the  informer,  if  the  purchaser  wished 
to  take  this  advantage  he  might  perhaps  be  willing  to  be  imposed 
upon  for  the  sake  of  recovering  the  fine.  Thus,  with  both  buyer 
and  seller  there  wras  a  possibility  of  advantage  in  the  half- skeins,  and 
it  is  quite  certain  that  they  were  popular.  The  loss  by  such  fraud, 
we  may  suppose,  ultimately  fell  on  the  consumer.  Probably  then 
as  now,  in  respect  to  skeins  as  to  spooled  silk,  the  purchase,  if 
weighed  in  the  balance,  would  frequently  be  found  wanting.  Aside 
from  the  half-skein  system,  there  was  the  inducement  to  make  the 
thread,  by  extra  labor,  go  as  far  as  possible.  The  only  limit  to 
the  fineness  of  the  thread  was  the  fear  that  it  might  be  unsalable. 
As  the  fair’spinners  themselves  sold  their  product,  they  doubtless 
gauged  the  fineness  of  their  thread  by  their  capacity  as  sales¬ 
women. 

Trade  of  that  period  took  largely  the  form  of  barter.  Having 
dyed  her  silk  with  her  own  hands,  the  matron  repaired  to  the 


4 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


country  merchant  to  exchange  it  for  dry  goods  or  groceries.  The 
‘  shopping  ”  of  the  present  day  must*be  regarded  as  tame  in  com¬ 
parison  with  those  cheery  contests  of  old  between  buyer  and  seller, 
when  the  value  of  the  offered  silk  was  a  question  of  more  delicate 
adjustment  than  that  of  the  goods  on  the  shopkeepers’  shelves.  In 
contests  such  as  these  the  man  full  often  discovered  that  the  wo¬ 
man  was  his  equal.  The  merchant  had  to  find  a  market  for  the 
accumulated  silk  in  the  city.  He,  too,  now  wanted  to  exchange  it 
for  goods,  but  the  personal  charms  of  the  vender  no  longer  as¬ 
sisted  the  sale  of  the  skeins.  Compared  with  the  Italian  sewing- 
silk,  the  American  was  inferior,  and  often  a  drug  in  the  market. 
Consumers  found  the  thread  too  fine  and  of  an  uneven  size,  that 
gave  it  a  rough  appearance.  Frequently  the  great  objection  was 
urged  that  there  was  too  much  floss  upon  it.  The  color  was  often 
defective,  both  as  to  shade  and  permanence.  Notwithstanding  all 
these  drawbacks,  however,  its  silk  production  gave  to  the  town  of 
Mansfield  an  income  of  not  less  than  $50,000  per  annum.  The 
labor  which  produced  this  sum  interfered  little  with  the  other 
work  of  the  household,  and  was  vastly  more  profitable. 

Such  were  the  characteristics  of  the  silk  industry  in  this  country 
prior  to  the  introduction  of  machinery  that  was  to  supersede  the 
spinning-wheel.  A  lad  employed  as  a  “  throwster  ”  in  an  English 
silk-mill  was  the  means  of  bringing  about  this  great  change.  In 
1827  or  1828,  Edmund  Golding,  of  Macclesfield,  England,  deter¬ 
mined  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  United  States.  He  was  then 
seventeen  years  of  age,  and  he  exj>ected  to  find  ready  employment 
as  a  “  throwster  ”  in  an  American  silk  factory.  Great  was  his  dis¬ 
appointment  at  finding  there  was  nothing  of  the  sort  in  this  coun¬ 
try  ;  and  that  even  at  Mansfield,  the  headquarters  of  the  silk  in¬ 
dustry,  no  process  but  that  of  hand-spinning  had  been  adopted. 
He  sought  employment  in  the  town  in  vain  ;  and  he  had  reached 
his  last  sixpence,  and  was  in  threadbare  garments,  when  Mr.  Wil¬ 
liam  A.  Fisk,  a  trader,  offered  to  give  him  food  and  shelter  for 
whatever  work  he  could  do — an  offer  that  was  gratefully  accepted. 
A  neighbor  of  Mr.  Fisk,  Mr.  Alfred  Lilly,  a  manufacturer  of  screw- 
augers  and  auger-bits,  took  an  interest  in  the  lad,  and  invited  him 
to  spend  the  evenings  at  his  house.  Golding  there  described  his 
previous  occupation.  The  mode  of  spinning  silk  by  machinery,  as 
then  practised  in  England,  was  thus  in  a  general  way  explained  to 
Mr.  Lilly, — Golding  making  rude  sketches  of  the  winding,  dou- 


SILK  INDUSTKY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


5 


bling  and  spinning  frames.  Mr.  Lilly  readily  comprehended  the 
details  of  the  manufacture,  and  foresaw  no  great  difficulty  in  at¬ 
tempting  it. 

The  three  thousand  pounds  of  raw  silk  which  were  then  annu¬ 
ally  produced  in  Mansfield  could  only  be  disposed  of  when  con¬ 
verted  by  hand-manufacture  into  sewing-silk,  and  for  the  most 
part  had  to  be  offered  in  barter.  Mr.  Lilly  hoped  that  by  means 
of  machinery  a  sewing-silk  could  be  made  equal  to  the  Italian, 
and,  like  it,  capable  of  being  sold  for  cash,  instead  of  being  ex¬ 
changed  for  goods  at  irregular  valuations.  He  was  fully  acquaint¬ 
ed  with  the  praiseworthy  efforts  which  his  townsmen,  Messrs. 
Hanks,  had  already  made  in  endeavoring  to  spin  silk  by  ma¬ 
chinery  ;  he  was  further  apprised  of  their  utter  failure,  both  in 
demonstrating  that  the  manufacture  of  sewing-silk  by  machinery 
was  practicable,  and  in  awakening  a  public  interest  that  might 
have  carried  forward  the  undertaking.  Not  discouraged  by  these 
facts,  he  brought  the  subject  before  Captain  Joseph  Conant  and 
Messrs.  William  A.  Fisk,  William  Atwood,  Storrs  Hovey,  and  Jesse 
Bingham,  and  with  them  eventually  formed  a  copartnership,  under 
the  name  of  the  Mansfield  Silk  Company,  for  the  manufacture  of 
silk  by  machinery. 

Each  member  of  the  company  was  required  to  pay  $50  at  once, 
and  could  be  assessed  from  time  to  time  for  further  payments  till 
he  had  contributed  $700  to  the  concern;  having  reached  this 
limit,  he  could  not  be  required  to  pay  more.  Mr.  Atwood  was 
chosen  as  treasurer  and  business  agent.  He  was  a  competent 
man  of  business,  besides  having  some  special  knowledge  of  silk. 
He  had  produced  for  several  years  on  his  farm  an  annual  average 
of  not  less  than  130  pounds  of  raw  silk,  which  he  had  disposed  of 
to  advantage  after  it  was  made  into  sewing-silk  and  button-hole 
twist.  Mr.  Lilly  had  charge  of  procuring  the  machinery.  A  por¬ 
tion  of  this  was  made  in  his  own  shop,  and  the  remainder  was 
obtained  from  regular  machinists.  A  room  and  power  having 
been  temporarily  provided,  the  machinery  when  ready  was  put  in 
motion,  under  the  direct  charge  of  Edmund  Golding.  Afterwards 
the  company  purchased  a  building  and  power  (which  had  been 
used  for  the  manufacture  of  wool)  situated  in  Gurleyville.  Thither 
they  moved  their  machinery.  To  this  day  the  building  is  known 
as  “The  Williams  Silk  Mill.” 

The  serious  difficulties  of  manufacture  soon  became  manifest. 


6 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


The  machinery  was  very  crude,  and  a  Yankee  “throwster”  of 
seventeen  to-day  would  scarcely  recognize  it  as  bearing  any  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  work.  It  was  capable  of  doing  all  that  Mr.  Golding 
had  claimed  for  it,  but  it  proved  inadequate  for  the  manufacture 
of  American  silk  as  that  was  then  reeled.  Finding  themselves 
unable  to  carry  out  their  original  project,  since  Mr.  Golding  could 
give  them  no  hint  at  improving  the  reeling,  they  took  his  advice 
in  importing  raw  silk  from  England.  Mr.  Ezra  Goodridge,  of 
New  York,  was  the  importer  through  whom  a  small  quantity  of 
ordinary  reel  Taysaam,  Brussia,  and  long-reeled  Canton  raw  silk 
was  obtained.  This  purchase  was  a  great  curiosity  in  Connecticut, 
and  the  manner  of  working  it  was  a  mystery  to  outsiders.  Mr. 
Golding  proved  competent  in  the  art  of  winding  the  silk,  and  also 
in  teaching  it  to  a  few  girls,  though  they  found  difficulties  in  their 
work  which  would  be  laughed  at  by  a  winder  of  the  present  day. 
But  Golding’s  lack  of  knowledge  about  reeling — his  chief  acquaint¬ 
ance  being  with  the  business  of  winding  and  spinning  organzine 
and  tram — made  their  attempts  to  compete  with  the  Italian  sew¬ 
ing-silk  unsatisfactory,  although  their  product  was  superior  to  the 
home-made  skeins. 

The  company  were  cheered  by  the  hope  of  better  success  in 
weaving  silk,  and  in  this  branch  of  business  Mr.  Golding  was  bet¬ 
ter  able  to  encourage  their  hopes.  In  the  spring  of  1829  the 
Mansfield  Silk  Company  was  incorporated  by  the  Legislature — a 
circumstance  which  directed  public  attention  to  their  efforts,  and 
occasioned  wide-spread  interest  in  the  growth  and  manufacture  of 
silk.  People  made  long  journeys  to  see  the  machinery  in  opera¬ 
tion,  and  letters  of  inquiry  were  numerous.  Among  the  visitors 
was  a  Mr.  Brown,  by  birth  an  Englishman,  who  was  engaged  in 
the  tassel  manufacture  at  Boston,  and  wras  anxious  to  obtain  his 
stock  as  cheaply  as  possible.  He  was  familiar  with  the  true  pro¬ 
cess  of  reeling,  and  explained  it  to  the  company.  They  had  a  reel 
constructed  under  his  direct  supervision. 

The  unquestionable  success  of  the  new  reel  gave  fresh  life  to 
the  enterprise.  The  company  advertised  their  willingness  to  pur¬ 
chase  all  the  cocoons  that  might  be  offered,  and  their  purchases 
were  large.  A  small  building,  with  power,  was  devoted  to  reeling. 
Improvements  were  rapidly  made,  patented,  and  adopted,  in  the 
reels  driven  by  power.  Not  only  was  the  reeling  perfectly  suc¬ 
cessful,  but  the  native  silk  was  found  to  be  of  superior  quality  and 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  8TATES. 


7 


strength,  winding  and  doubling  with  greater  facility  and  less 
waste  than  China  or  Brussia  silk. 

Instead  of  being  a  drug  in  the  market,  American  silk  now  be¬ 
came  an  object  of  demand,  and  the  company  took  measures  to  in¬ 
crease  the  supply.  The  hardy  native  white  mulberry  was  the  sole 
source  of  food  for  the  silk-worms.  The  seed  of  this  tree  was 
carefully  gathered  in  Mansfield  for  the  company,  and  in  the  spring 
following  they  took  measures  for  extensive  planting.  Their  agents 
were  sent  into  different  sections  of  Connecticut  and  neighboring 
States,  with  instructions  to  lease  for  a  term  of  years  suitable  land 
'  for  nurseries,  and  to  arrange  with  the  owners  of  the  land  for  aid 
in  planting,  and  for  subsequent  care.  The  agents  were  to  revisit 
the  nurseries  from  time  to  time,  as  often  as  might  be  necessary  to 
ascertain  that  they  had  proper  attention,  and  to  secure  successful 
growth. 

In  the  Spring  of  1832  the  company  appeared  before  the  legis¬ 
lature  to  ask  State  aid  for  encouraging  the  culture  and  manufac¬ 
ture  of  silk.  The  Governor,  with  members  of  a  legislative  com¬ 
mittee,  visited  the  company’s  silk  mill,  and  took  great  interest  in 
examining  the  materials  used,  and  the  machinery  and  processes  of 
manufacture.  Some  specimens  of  the  goods  made — such  as  vest 
patterns  and  handkerchiefs — were  presented  to  the  visitors.  The 
result  was  an  act  of  the  legislature  containing  the  following  provi¬ 
sions: — 

Whoever  shall  transplant  one  hundred  white  mulberry  trees  of  three  or 
more  years’  growth  on  his,  her,  or  their  land,  within  this  State,  adapted 
to  the  growth  and  cultivation  of  the  same,  at  such  distances  from  each  other 
as  will  best  favor  their  full  growth  and  the  collection  of  their  leaves,  shall 
receive  at  the  end  of  two  years  next  after  said  trees  shall  have  been  trans¬ 
planted  as  aforesaid,  one  dollar,  and  in  the  same  proportion  of  a  greater 
number  transplanted  as  aforesaid,  upon  proof  and  certificate  thereof  as  here¬ 
after  prescribed,  and  that  such  trees  were,  at  the  end  of  two  years  after  trans¬ 
planting  as  aforesaid,  in  a  healthy  and  growing  condition. 

It  was  also  enacted  that,  where  silk  was  reeled  from  cocoons  by 
the  improved  method,  fifty  cents  per  pound  should  be  paid  to  the 
person  reeling  it,  or  causing  it  to  be  reeled.  A  bounty  of  $1,500 
was  bestowed  upon  the  Mansfield  Silk  Company. 

A  general  interest  in  silk  culture  was  excited  by  this  legislative 
action;  and  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Massachusetts  and  Maine, 
following  the  example  of  Connecticut,  offered  bounties  for  cocoons 
and  raw  silk  raised  within  their  borders. 


8 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Among  those  who  closely  observed  the  principles  of  the  machin¬ 
ery  employed  in  the  silk  mill  was  Nathan  Rixford.  He  had  just 
established  himself  as  a  builder  of  machinery  at  Mansfield  Hollow. 
Scarcely  was  the  machinery  of  the  mill  complete,  when  this  young 
man  projected  considerable  improvements  upon  it,  and  began  con¬ 
struction  accordingly.  Doubling  and  winding  frames  and  a  spin¬ 
ner  made  upon  his  plans  were  a  notable  advance  on  the  English 
machinery  of  Golding,  and  many  marked  features  then  introduced 
by  Mr.  Rixford  are  retained  among  the  improvements  of  the  silk 
manufacture  of  to-day.  His  success  attracted  attention.  He  soon 
began  to  receive  orders  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
for  several  years  was  the  principal  builder  of  silk  machinery. 
Prominent  among  the  earlier  silk  culturists  and  manufacturers 
were  Jonathan  H.  Cobb,  of  Dedham,  Mass.;  the  Nantucket  Silk 
Company,  of  Nantucket,  Mass.;  Samuel  Whitmarsh,  of  Northamp¬ 
ton,  Mass.;  and  Cheney  Brothers,  of  Manchester,  Conn.  Mr. 
Whitmarsh  and  others  introduced  new  varieties  of  mulberry-trees, 
prominent  among  which  was  the  much-vaunted  Multicaulis ,  and  of 
less  celebrity,  though  more  value,  the  Alpine  and  the  Brussia,  the 
two  latter  being  really  worthy  of  cultivation  in  this  country,  while 
the  former,  by  its  utter  and  widespread  failure,  after  being  absurdly 
overrated,  brought  loss  and  disgrace  on  the  entire  silk  industry  of 
the  United  States. 

A  few  words  may  be  devoted  to  the  “multicaulis  fever.”  Haste 
to  be  rich  led  the  way.  Instead  of  the  old  method  of  planting 
mulberry  orchards  with  the  well-known  and  hardy  varieties  of  the 
tree,  the  system  was  adopted  of  securing  from  trees  of  a  single 
season’s  growth  leaves  fit  for  feeding.  For  this  purpose,  planting 
in  close  hills  or  in  hedges  was  necessary,  and  the  Morus  multicaulis 
was  the  favorite  tree.  Its  luxuriant  growth,  when  stimulated,  was 
indeed  remarkable.  Its  leaves,  fed  to  the  worm,  produced  a  silk 
that  was  not  equal  in  quality  to  that  from  the  white  mulberry. 
The  trees  had  to  be  housed  in  winter,  either  in  cellars  or  in  earth- 
vaults.  Notwithstanding  the  objections  to  it,  the  multicaulis  grew 
rapidly  in  popular  favor.  Rarely  was  a  garden  or  a  cultivated 
spot  to  be  seen  without  this  tree.  A  demand  for  the  trees  them¬ 
selves  sprang  up, — a  demand  that  gave  them  an  absurd  and  facti¬ 
tious  value.  Prices  ranged  for  trees  produced  from  one  bud  or 
cutting,  and  of  a  single  season’s  growth,  from  five  cents  to  ten, 
twenty,  fifty  cents,  one  dollar,  and  in  some  instances  five  dollars 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  9 

apiece.  The  value  of  trees  became  greater  than  that  of  the  silk 
that  could  be  obtained  by  them;  the  trees  were  worth  too  much 
to  be  used  for  silk  culture,  and  the  raising  o*f  these  trees  became  a 
speculative  business  of  great  activity.  The  excitement  reached 
its  culminating  point  in  1839,  when  the  fortunes  of  many  thrifty  men 
who  had  embarked  in  the  enterprise  were  wrecked  in  bankruptcy. 
Even  then,  although  the  failure  of  the  multicaulis  was  assured,  the 
mania  for  raising  mulberry  trees  was  not  abated,  hardier  varieties 
being  its  objects.  The  writer  was  witness  to  an  instance  of  the 
height  to  which  this  excitement  carried  prices,  and  places  the  facts 
here  as  a  matter  of  record.  Two  trees  of  one  season’s  growth, 
raised  by  Elder  Sharp,  of  North  Windham,  Conn.,  were  sold, 
standing  in  his  nursery,  in  August,  1842,  after  due  advertisement, 
at  auction.  The  first  one  offered  brought  $100,  the  second  $100; 
and  further  sales  were  withheld  because  the  bidding  was  not  con¬ 
sidered  as  sufficiently  spirited.  Disaster  followed  this  baseless 
speculation,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  when  the  price  of  the 
trees  exceeded  the  worth  of  the  product;  and  in  1843-44  the  fab¬ 
ric  of  artificial  values  collapsed.  A  deep  reaction  in  popular  feel¬ 
ing  took  the  place  of  the  former  excitement;  and  the  whole  busi¬ 
ness  of  silk  culture  sank  into  disfavor,  along  with  the  costly  and 
now  neglected  mulberry  trees.  A  blight  of  a  general  character,  to 
which  even  the  hardy  white  mulberry  yielded  at  last,  gave  the  fin¬ 
ishing  blow,  and  silk  culture  in  America  ceased  t  >  exist. 

From  1828  to  1844  the  members  of  the  Mansfield  Silk  Company 
passed  through  sixteen  years  of  varied  experience,  which  must 
remain  for  the  most  part  unwritten.  They  were  men  not  wanting 
in  thrift  or  enthusiasm;  but  they  lacked  capital,  and  their  ignor¬ 
ance  of  the  business  of  manufacture  frequently  made  them  the 
dupes  of  unwise  experiment.  Their  attempt  at  weaving,  though 
they  succeeded  with  vest  patterns,  handkerchiefs,  and  some  other 
goods,  must  be  pronounced  a  failure,  both  as  to  the  quality  desired, 
and  from  a  pecuniary  point  of  view.  They  exceeded  their  first 
limit  of  $700  assessment,  and  each  paid  in  more  than  $1,000,  besides 
devoting  abundant  time  and  effort ;  but  the  result  was  at  last 
disastrous.  Before  their  final  dissolution,  the  company  let  their 
establishment  to  others  who  carried  on  the  silk  manufacture.  But 
to  the  original  company  must  be  accredited  the  honor  of  having 
originated  the  business,  and  the  popular  interest  in  it  which  has 
since  carried  it  onward. 


10 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Mr.  Lilly  was  himself  the  first  to  sever  connection  with  the  com¬ 
pany.  He  failed  in  his  regular  business  in  1835,  and  attributed 
his  misfortune  to  his  interest  in  silk  manufacture.  It  was,  per¬ 
haps,  the  last  straw  on  the  camel’s  back.  He  was  past  the  meridian 
-of  life,  and  his  wounded  feelings  never  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  his  failure.  His  interest  in  the  company  was  appraised  and 
■sold,  in  the  settlement  of  his  estate,  for  $350.  The  dissolution  of 
the  company  took  place  in  1839, — William  A.  Fisk,  Jesse  Bingham 
and  Storrs  Hovey  withdrawing  altogether  from  the  business.  A 
small  but  prosperous  enterprise  was  carried  on  by  Captain  Conant 
and  William  Atwood,  associated  with  Harvey  Crane,  in  the  manu¬ 
facture  of  sewing-silk  and  button-hole  twist.  About  the  year  1840 
the  New  York  and  Northampton  Silk  Company  employed  Captain 
Conant  as  their  agent.  They  had  then  been  in  existence  since  1834, 
and  hoped  that  the  Captain  could  retrieve  their  waning  fortunes.  In 
this  he  did  not  succeed;  but  he  spent  several  years  in  Northamp¬ 
ton,  principally  engaged  in  the  silk  business;  at  last  returning  to 
Mansfield.  In  1853  he  built  a  small  silk-mill  and  dye-house  upon 
ground  newly  broken  for  the  purpose.  A  few  houses  have  gather¬ 
ed  around  this  site,  and  it  is  known  as  Con  mtville.  The  company 
formed  by  Messrs.  Atwood  and .  Crane  with  Captain  Conant  dis¬ 
solved  at  his  departure,  and  Mr.  Atwood  built  a  small  mill  (using 
the  Rixford  machinery),  a  dye-house,  and  other  appropriate  struc¬ 
tures,  on  Mount  Hope  River.  His  undertaking  was  crowned  with 
success.  Mr.  Atwood  was  at  the  time  of  his  death,  in  1851,  the 
leading  silk  manufacturer  of  the  town,  which  still  bears  the  name 
of  Atwoodville. 

To  close  this  portion  of  our  history,  it  is  only  necessary  to  fol¬ 
low  the  fortunes  of  Mr.  Golding.  After  the  dissolution  of  the 
Mansfield  Silk  Company,  he  was  associated  with  Messrs.  Zalmon 
Storrs  &  Son,  and  in  1843  had  been  for  some  time  engaged  with 
them  in  the  manufacture  of  sewing-silk.  They  built  a  small,  neat 
mill  in  Mansfield  Hollow,  equipping  it  with  the  Rixford  machin¬ 
ery.  During  ten  years  their  associated  efforts  were  prosperous. 
After  they  dissolved  company  Mr.  Golding  bought  land  and  water¬ 
power  at  a  site  one  mile  to  the  north-east  of  Mansfield  Centre, 
and  there  broke  ground  for  a  new  silk-mill.  The  canal  was  partly 
excavated,  and  some  of  the  stone  had  been  gathered  for  the  build- 
ing,  when  Mr.  Golding  was  taken  ill,  and,  after  a  brief  illness, 
passed  away.  The  gathered  stone  and  ground  broken  for  the 


8 ILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


11 


mill  still  remain  untouched, — a  sad  monument  to  this  pioneer  of 
the  silk  manufacture  of  America. 

It  was  not  proposed  in  this  rapid  sketch  to  name  all  those  whose 
efforts  in  the  infancy  of  the  silk  business  contributed,  through 
years  of  struggle  and  difficulty,  to  its  ultimate  success;  nor  is  it 
possible  here  to  assign  the  share  of  honor  that  is  due  to  each, 
where  all  devoted  their  best  endeavor.  But  the  important  relation 
which  the  dyeing  of  silk  bears  to  this  industry  makes  it  necessary 
that  some  incidents  connected  with  that  branch  of  the  business 
should  be  placed  on  record.  The  first  in  this  country  to  make  a 
business  of  silk-dyeing,  and  to  improve  its  processes,  were  Edward 
Vallentine  and  Lewis  Leigh,  who  had  been  practically  engaged  in 
this  occupation  in  London,  England.  They  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1838,  and  in  August  of  that  year  Mr.  Vallentine  began 
business  as  a  silk-dyer  at  Gurleyville,  Conn.  He  soon  obtained 
the  patronage  of  most  of  the  silk  manufacturers  in  that  vicinity, 
gaining  a  reputation  by  the  use  of  new  and  brilliant  colors  and  a 
permanent  black,  that  were  much  admired.  About  1839-40, 
doubtless  under  inducements  held  out  by  the  New  York  and 
Northampton  Silk  Company,  Mr.  Vallentine  removed  to  Northamp¬ 
ton,  Mass.,  where  he  carried  on  the  business  of  silk-dyeing  success¬ 
fully.  Although  of  apparently  robust  constitution,  he  did  not  sur¬ 
vive  the  meridian  of  life.  His  death  occurred  in  1851.  Mr.  Leigh, 
who  is  still  living,  is  regarded  by  the  craft  as  a  master  in  the  art 
of  silk- dyeing  ;  and  to  his  and  Mr.  Vallentine’s  efforts  must  be 
given  the  credit  of  having  done  much  to  establish  this  branch  of 
industry. 

At  least  one  incident  connected  with  the  importation  of  raw  silk 
deserves  mention.  When  the  American  raw  silk  was  properly  reeled, 
it  took  precedence  of  any  that  was  imported,  being  more  easily 
worked.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  William  Atwood,  about  the 
year  1840,  Mr.  Ezra  Gfoodridge,  of  New  York,  sent  a  sample  skein 
of  American  silk  to  China,  with  an  order  for  a  few  bales  of  an  ar¬ 
ticle  to  be  similar  in  all  respects.  In  compliance  with  this  order, 
an  invoice  came  of  silk  described  as  “  re-reeled  Canton.  ”  The 
skeins  were  fac-similes  of  the  American  sample.  They  gave  great 
satisfaction  ;  and  up  to  the  present  time,  silk  of  this  character  has 
been  the  subject  of  large  importation. 

The  amount  of  our  imports  of  raw  silk  may  now  be  taken  as  the 
measure  of  the  silk  industry,  which,"  as  we  have  seen,  began  with 


12 


SILK  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


home  growth  and  a  home  manufacture  originally  dependent  upon 
the  native  product,  and  gained  sufficient  foothold  to  survive  the 
extinction  of  American  silk  culture.  The  earlier  importers  of  raw 
silk  in  New  York  exhibited  commendable  enterprise  in  fostering 
our  infant  silk  manufactures,  and.  bore  their  share  of  the  losses 
which  usually  attend  new  enterprises.  At  the  present  day  the 
number  of  importers  is  largely  increased,  to  meet  the  demands  of 
a  business  amounting  to  1,250,000  lbs.  of  raw  silk  annually,  of  a 
gold  value  of  $7,500,000. 

Among  the  large  manufacturing  establishments  which  create  the 
demand  for  these  importations,  may  be  mentioned  that  of  Messrs. 
Cheney  Brothers,  at  Manchester,  Conn.,  which  has  arisen  out  of 
the  ashes — destruction  having  likewise  overtaken  their  earlier  ef¬ 
forts  in  raw  silk  culture.  They  are  now  the  leaders  in  the  Ameri¬ 
can  silk  industry,  and  are  successful  in  spinning,  weaving,  dyeing, 
and  all  other  branches  of  the  manufacture.  The  Nonotuck  Silk 
Company’s  establishment  at  Florence,  Mass.,  which  is  an  out¬ 
growth  upon  the  ruins  of  the  New  York  and  Northampton  Silk 
Company,  next  deserves  mention.  Sewing- silk  and  machine-twist 
are  the  specialty  of  this  concern,  which  gives  employment  steadily 
to  more  than  400  operatives,  manufacturing  more  than  80,000  lbs. 
of  raw  silk  annually.  There  are  in  all,  at  the  present  time,  156  silk 
factories  in  the  following  States:  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania,  Maryland,  California,  Kansas,  Connecticut,  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire  and  Vermont.  They  give  employment  to  about 
12, 000  operatives. 

The  production  of  raw  silk  in  this  country,  which  in  1828  amount¬ 
ed  in  Mansfield  alone  to  3,200  lbs.,  and  which  ceased  entirely  in 
1844,  has  since  been  revived  in  California,  meeting  there  with  a 
modified  success.  There  is  no  good  reason  why  it  should  not 
be  again  extended  throughout  the  United  States.  Since  the  in¬ 
troduction  of  the  mulberry  seed  by  Dr.  Aspinwall  in  1766,  the 
history  of  this  culture  has  been  pregnant  with  encouragement, 
and  only  a  fortuitous  conjunction  of  misfortunes  checked  it. 
American  silk,  the  quality  of  which  is  known  to  be  superior  to 
any  that  is  imported,  would  have  to-day  a  cash  value  and  an  in¬ 
exhaustible  home  market.  The  subject  of  silk  culture  in  the  United 
States  deserves  special  consideration  from  the  Silk  Association  of 
America. 

Florence,  Mass.,  February,  1875. 


J 


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